The Snigglers

The Snigglers is a random encounter in Tales from the Tiers.

Transcript
You're following the road through an expanse of scrubby woodlands, crooked oaks and dry-needled pines grasping towards the sky, when you catch the sound of children's laughter filtering through the trees. To the right of the road a broad basin opens, the tall grass shifting quietly in the light breeze like the waves on the open sea. A silver ribbon of stream winds across the panorama, and you make out a small group gathered on the water's edge. As you pick your way along a cliffside path, you notice a rope ladder set into the stone and descending into the depths of a ravine. Peering over, you make out a river's slow wend below. The rope terminates on a small ledge jutting over the shimmering surface, a trio of youth dangling lines into the water. Investigate the laughter. Ignore and continue. Abandoning the road, you make your way to a small tributary of the Matani snaking through the sparse forest. There you discover a group of four youths gathered beside the small stream. Two of the children sit on the rocks, poles in hand, staring patiently at the water. The other two are seated near a bucket taking turns whacking eels along the ground to stun them and carving up eel meat. Having important work to do for the Overlord, you decide that whatever the children are up to is beneath your notice and continue your march down the dusty road towards your destination. Approach the group. Ignore and continue. Descend the ladder. Ignore and continue. Espying your approach, the snigglers snatch up their baskets and poles and scatter, bolting in two groups, each following the river in opposite directions. Their shouts and laughter ride the wind to you. You stick to the high road, rounding the basin and continuing your journey. The trio fail to notice you until you're almost upon them. They wave pleasantly, inviting you to join them, going so far as to offering you a worm and pole. You notice that their basket is bereft of the smallest catch, and their ribs show plainly through their tan skin. One look at the rickety ladder and the precipitous drop and you decide against the notion, continuing to your destination instead. You crash out of the woods, stomping on dry branches and striking your hand against your chest. You shout at the children, calling up the specters of Kyros, Tunon, and Bleden Mark. The kids scream and scramble, dashing into the undergrowth and leaving behind their basket of caught eels. You collect the slimy haul and return to the road, confident in your evening's repast. Threaten the children. Speak to the children. Kidnap the children. Return to the road. You step out of the woods, drawing the attention of the children, who eye you warily. The eldest youth, almost a man grown, notes your heraldry and hawks a ball of phlegm into the reeds. You spring upon the children without warning and manage to grab up two of them as the others get away. They scream, kick, and bite, but they are no match for you in size or strength. Having sated your curiosity, you return to the road and continue on your journey. Punish the spitter. Tell a story. Ask to sniggle. Conscript the children. In a violent surge you stride towards the disrespectful youth. Before he can do more than stand your fingers wrap around his neck. As the other children flee into the underbrush, you choke the boy until you feel his convulsions become harried and frantic - only then do you release your grip. He crumbles into a sobbing mess at your feet. You raise your hands to calm the youngsters and ask if they've heard the tale of Pox and the elder boar of the Bernian Wood. When they look to one another without answer, you begin to spin the story for them, an odd and sometimes amusing yarn filled with epic adventure and dark mysticism. By the time you've finished, the youth have become entirely absorbed in your story, utterly rapt in their attention. The youngest of the children brings you an eel in exchange for your time. You thank them and return to the road to continue your journey. Though initially wary of you, the youths relax as you sit with them, poking your bait into the snig holes and waiting patiently for a catch. Eventually you hook one of the eels, hauling the hissing beast from the stream and cracking its head upon the stone until it goes still. You thank the youths for the use of their pole and return to the road with your catch in hand. You bring the children back to the nearest Scarlet Chorus camp. The Voices of Nerat has very few rules, but proctecing the young is one of them. The children will be trained and educated until old enough to fight as part of the Scarlet horde in the name of the Overlord. You pry from them the name of their home village and make your way there, demanding a tithe to the Overlord from their parents in exchange for the children's safe return. The village scrapes together enough rings to secure the release of their youth, and you continue on your journey, your belt a tad heavier. Walk away silently. Admonish the youth. Without a word you turn your back to the youths and continue your journey. You shout at the fleeing children, underscoring the wages of resistence. Apex is the domain of the Kyros, and the Overlord's officers WILL be respected. Save for the quiet babbling of the stream, silence falls upon the woodland. You leave the youths behind and return to the stream. Ransom the children. Pursue upriver. Pursue downriver. Leave them be. You give chase, crashing through the tall grass after the Haven youth. Despite their head start, you rapidly catch up with the youngsters, grasping one by the collar and another by the wrist. They squirm, trying to break free, but you hold them fast. Conscript the children. Interrogate the youth. [50 Copper| Buy eels. Let the children go. You bind the youths and march them back to the road. They cry and complain as you march them towards the Crossing, and you advise them that such sniveling will serve them poorly in the social circles of the Chorus. At the settlement, you release the conscripts into the care of the garrison commander to effusive gratitude. You turn your back on the children and return to your journey. You assure them that you are not in league with these mercenaries, and they appear relieved by this detail. Once they've calmed, you release the pair before offering them rings in exchange for their catch. At first, they look to one another, clearly skeptical and mistrustful, but their desire for copper overturns their suspicions. The bounty you proffer for the eels they've caught is more than fair; they add the rings to their belt and surrender their basket of snigs. As they take up their poles and make their retreat, you return to the road to continue your journey. You unhand the youths, and they stumble away from you, one rubbing her wrist. They look to one another, then to you. You assure them that they're free to go; they step away, hesitantly at first, then break into a run, putting as much distance between themselves and you as possible. You return to the road and turn toward your destination. You neither confirm nor deny your alliance with the Bronze Brotherhood, but assure them that the mercenaries have turned their attention to more lofty enemies than eels and the children that hunt them. Sniggle with them. Give sniggling lessons. Decline and return to the path. You take up a pole a join them, hooking a worm and lowering it into the water below. You work the bait into a snig hole and wait patiently for the eel to bite. You eventually feel a tug. You count quietly to yourself, letting the eel swallow the worm, then yank roughly to set the hook before dragging the slippery beast from the current. The trio of youngsters jump and clap with excitement at your accomplishment. After you climb out of the ravine, Eb corners you with a wry grin. "Should have known you're a natural with slick eels and long poles." You return to your march across the Stone Sea. You refuse the offer, instead climbing the ladder back up the stone wall to the path. From there you continue your trek through the broken lands of the Stone Sea. Leave with eel. Give them eel. You ask the youngsters to show you their technique, and you quickly identify several shortcomings. You show them how to hook their bait so that it won't slip free, how to make ensure the bait fits into the snig hole, and how to wait until the eel has had time to swallow the hook before setting it. After your instruction, the youths make another attempt at sniggling, and one quickly makes a catch. The three thank you profusely for your help. Leaving the pole with the trio, you hang the catch from your gear and make your way back up the rope, your ascent followed by the wide, hungry eyes of the youth. You ignore them, find the path, and continue on your trek through the Stone Sea. You lower the river beast into the basket and free the hook from within it. The trio look up to you with wide eyes when you slide the basket to them. You confirm that the catch is for them and they thank you profusely, even embracing you in their joy. You demand to know why the children fled you, and it quickly becomes clear that they believe you to be in league with the mercenaries stalking the roads and waterways around Lethian's Crossing. The thugs, they inform you, have been quick to rob them of their eels and poles in the past. You climb out of the ravine and find the path before continuing on your journey. You climb out of the ravine and find the path before continuing on your journey. Continue... Continue... Continue...